Lothar Herbert Matthäus (Erlangen, 21 March 1961) is a German football manager and former footballer, who played as a midfielder or defender. With the German national team he became European champion in 1980 and world champion - as captain - in 1990. Considered one of the best players in the history of football, he won the Ballon d'Or in 1990, becoming the first Inter player to obtain such recognition. After five seasons in Borussia M'gladbach, he moved to Bayern Munich, with whom in four years he won three German championships, a Cup and a German Super Cup. In 1988 he moved to Inter, definitively establishing himself at international level and winning an Italian championship, a national Super Cup and a UEFA Cup. Having concluded his experience in Italy after four seasons, he returned to Bayern Munich, winning three more championships, a German Cup, three German League Cups and a UEFA Cup, losing a UEFA Champions League final in 1998-1999. The following year he finished his overseas career with the MetroStars. He played 150 matches for the national team (a record for German football), scoring 23 goals. He holds the record for participation in the world championship (five, from 1982 to 1998), tied with Andres Guardado, Gianluigi Buffon, Antonio Carbajal, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Rafael Márquez; until 2022 he was the player with the most appearances in the final stages of the world championship (25), before being overtaken by Messi. He also participated in four European championships (1980, 1984, 1988 and 2000) and one FIFA Confederations Cup (1999).